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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29680608">Coffee and Combinations - Percabeth AU</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThaliaNube/pseuds/ThaliaNube'>ThaliaNube</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Annabeth is a bit strange but the good kind, F/M, He's a psychology student people, I tried people, Mortal AU, Percy Jackson Mortal au, So I just type any tag I can think of, but that's optional as well, coffee shop AU, percabeth, she studies architecture, such a surprise i know, this is so irrelevant to the Story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:01:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29680608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThaliaNube/pseuds/ThaliaNube</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Every morning Percy stands in line behind a blonde. He has yet to speak to her.</p><p>Percabeth Coffee Shop Meeting AU. That's it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Coffee and Combinations - Percabeth AU</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first public fic ever. My friends said they'd liked it, so enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She stood in front of him. Again.</p><p> </p><p>Percy should have already got used to seeing the honey-blond back of her head, considering he saw it every day of the week. At always the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, he still hadn't got used to it. It seemed to take him by surprise every day anew.</p><p> </p><p>She was interesting, very much so. Not because of the ever-lasting change of books in her right hand (she always took her order with her left hand, he'd noticed that) and not because of her hair that shone golden in the morning sun. No, that wasn't it.</p><p> </p><p>It was because her order was never the same.</p><p> </p><p>And when he said never, he meant it. There hadn't been a single time where she drank the same thing twice, ever since she began standing in front of him daily. One day it was hot chocolate, another peppermint tea, the next a frappé, sometimes coffee with cream or sugar, sometimes without, she'd even ordered coffee with honey one time!</p><p> </p><p>Today she seemed content with her order of black tea with pumpkin spice and vanilla ice cream, much to the barista's chagrin. <em>Different again,</em> he thought to himself<em>, how is</em><em> that even supposed to taste?</em></p><p> </p><p>For a girl he had never talked to or even looked at properly, she took a prominent place in his mind. Sometimes he found himself drifting from paying attention in class just to imagine what she might order next.</p><p>A call from the counter made him shove his thoughts aside to order his usual. Leaving, he sipped at his drink and made his way to the college campus.</p><p>_____________</p><p>The next day, one thing was different.</p><p>Again, her order had been one of the craziest combinations he had ever heard of. <em>Cocoa with cream, strawberry syrup and salt? What the hell?</em></p><p>But the book was missing and replaced by a notebook with a pencil attached. <em>Was she an artist? Or maybe a writer... </em>Now that it came up, he'd actually never given a thought to what her profession might be.</p><p>Pulled out of his trying to unveil the ongoing mystery she presented by the barista, he ordered his usual and watched her leaving while waiting for his drink.</p><p> </p><p>As he walked out of the shop, all of a sudden, an idea struck him like a lightning bolt. <em>Her orders can't just be random! They have got to be connected to something!</em></p><p>Why he hadn't realised that before, well, he blamed it in her blond mane and her many books that kept drawing his attention.</p><p>And, with this new realisation in mind, his day continued with nothing being able to pull him out of trying to figure out what the indicators of the mystery girl's seemingly random orders could be. He wasn't a psychology student for no reason, right? He could figure it out.</p><p>_____________</p><p>For some reason he couldn't quite name, Percy took a different route to the coffee shop that morning. He made his way through the park, lost in his own head as he hadn't come to a solution the previous day, when an unmistakably familiar blonde on a bench about ten metres away grabbed his attention. <em>Was she here every</em><em> day? </em>Percy looked at her from behind and saw she was focused in reading another one of her books while occasionally eating from a candy bag, of which he recognised the brand.</p><p>He grinned to himself. Now he knew how to predict her order. He resumed his stroll to the coffee shop, making sure he arrived at the usual time.</p><p> </p><p>While standing in line and looking at the back of her head, as always, he could only think that <em>maybe </em>today <em>he</em> would be able to surprise <em>her </em>for once.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>She was just about to order when he spoke up from his place right behind her.</p><p>"May I try?" he interrupted. "I think I figured it out. Because I saw you eating some-" He cut himself off, cringing, because <em>yeah, </em>now he was sounding like a full-blown stalker.</p><p> </p><p>She was looking directly at him, making him see her face in full glory for the first time. <em>She's beautiful, </em>a voice in his head cried out. As if he hadn't known that. The blond curls framed her face in a golden halo and her grey eyes swirled distinctly calculating at him, but she made no move to stop him, encouraging him to continue. So, he did.</p><p> </p><p>"Because I saw you eating some of those coffee candies in that bench earlier." His confidence increased with every spoken word. "I had them once, they contain a lot of coffee extract, which makes most people crave for something chocolate-y, but you aren't most people and you had chocolate yesterday -- meaning you won't take chocolate today, since you never take similar-tasting drinks in two following days.  Even then, the sugar ist still something you'd need. Also, the salt in that candy is making you want something fruity -- very fruity, considering the amount you ate subconsciously while reading -- but there should also be something to balance the sweetness and fruity-ness to make it somewhat drinkable and not overwhelming. Noticing as well that you seemed to fall asleep any minute, you're also probably in great need of caffeine and something cold.</p><p>So", he swallowed, "in conclusion, summarising all my previous points, my guess would be a honey-lemon milkshake with one shot of espresso and one shot of green tea."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A pause.</p><p> </p><p>Another.</p><p> </p><p>She blinked at him with an unreadable expression.</p><p> </p><p>Then she spoke.</p><p> </p><p>"I must say, you deduced that admirably."</p><p>
  <em>He did? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"- Apart from one thing" she continued.</p><p>
  <em>Oh no.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"I can't <strong><em>stand </em></strong>milk"</p><p> </p><p>He stared. "I-" His voice gave out and left him standing and staring with what must have been a <em>highly</em><em> amusing </em>dumbfounded look.</p><p> </p><p>Grinning at his reaction the girl turned to the barista: "What he said, but with soy milk. And for Mr John B. Watson here, a blueberry smoothie with extra ice please."</p><p>Percy fehlt his jaw drop. <em>Had she been watching him too? </em>She burst out laughing at his petrified expression and continued walking out the door. As the barista handed him his smoothie, He looked at the blonde waiting outside, gesturing him to follow.</p><p>Smiling into his straw, he obeyed, and a small thought grazed his mind.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>This would be interesting.</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p>Extra:</p><p>"How did you notice?" he wondered. "I always order after you."</p><p>"You know, it's pretty hard to miss somebody ordering a bright blue smoothie every day, don't you think? I also very much doubt that that absurdity you call a drink" -- she gestured to the cup in his hand -- "is healthy in any way. With that much colouring it's a miracle your insides aren't blue already."</p><p>He continued slurping with a pout and let that gesture speak for itself. Annabeth -- that was her name, and, in his opinion, it suited <em>perfectly</em> -- only snorted at his childish antics.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Does anybody know that weird salty coffee candy, too? I mistook it for chocolate once. I'll never make that mistake again.</p><p> </p><p>Also: John B. Watson is a famous psychologist (not that I know shit about psychology - is this even psychology or more in the food science region? - idk), not to be confused with the great John H. Watson, the narrator of the Sherlock Holmes books #johnlock but that's not what this fic is about. There are just... too many... amazing couples to ship...</p><p> </p><p>In addition, idk what kind of coffee shop would let you do those strange combinations but just roll with it pleased.</p><p> </p><p> Feel free to criticise or point out mistakes. I gave my best and I'm ready to improve. Thank you for taking your time reading this. It means a lot to me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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